Pheasant Run celebrates 50 years in St. Charles

ST. CHARLES – It’s been 50 years since Pheasant Run Resort opened in St. Charles, and on Wednesday, the management hosted an anniversary gala for about 500 local dignitaries, retailers, long-time clients, business partners and members of the resort’s fitness and golf clubs.

“The event went well beyond our imagination,” said Tim Foley, general manager of Pheasant Run.

In keeping with the resort’s New Orleans theme, there was Cajun cuisine and Louisiana-style music from the Chicago-based band, Hurricane Gumbo. And then there were prizes that included a four-night trip for two to New Orleans, a pair of gold diamond earrings, overnight stays in luxury locations across the U.S., a skybox suite for a Kane County Cougars game, tickets for the Arcada Theater and a weekend spa getaway at Pheasant Run. Guided tours were offered to showcase the resort’s renovations and new amenities.

The goal of the event was to celebrate the resort’s past and future.

“How this land was transformed from a farm into a 250-acre destination resort is an astonishing evolution,” Foley said.

Pheasant Run now is the Midwest’s largest entertainment resort. In 1963, it offered 184 guest rooms, an 18-hole golf course and the first indoor/outdoor pool in the United States. Today, it features 473 recently renovated guest rooms that offer in-room dining and free Wi-Fi. It still maintains the golf course but has added two more pools, six restaurants and lounges, two theaters, a comedy club and a new spa and fitness center, all built around a replica of New Orleans’ Bourbon Street.

The resort also offers one of the Chicago area’s premier meeting centers for conferences and conventions. It features 45 meeting rooms, two expo centers, four ballrooms, a new 320-seat amphitheater and onsite convention and audio-visual services. The resort’s meeting center is recognized year after year with the Gold Key Award for Excellence from Meetings and Conventions Magazine.

At the gala, the Pheasant Run management honored the businesses that have made the resort a thriving entity. Joanne Kennedy was there to join in the celebration. She is the founder and president of Kennedy Productions which, since 1987, has held its “The Old House New House” Home Show at the resort every February and September.

“Pheasant Run has a very dedicated staff that makes our job easier,” Kennedy said. “They all go above and beyond to support their clients because they consider us their family.”

Rose Claussen, a board member of the Midwest Decoy Collectors Association, also was at the gala. During the last week of every April, the association holds its National Decoy and Sporting Collectible Show at the resort.

“We enjoy Pheasant Run because it has a country kind of feel to it, looking out onto the golf course,” she said. “People come from across the country to our show, and I think one of the reasons they do so is because they really like to come here.”

Pheasant Run will continue its anniversary celebration all year long. Check out its website, www.pheasantrun.com, for information. Foley said if people” like” the resort on Facebook, they will be alerted of anniversary promotions.